I don't know why I did that maybe maybe
it's just a break the
eyes
alhamdulillah alayum which means peace
be unto you welcome to another episode
of the dean show which is a way of life
we try to put out there for everyone to
see helping you understand Islam and
Muslims and my next guest when we come
back Dr Lawrence Brown you don't want to
go nowhere we been right back discussing
the purpose of life
[Music]
peaceful peaceful peaceful
[Music]
peace allum
Drome got thank you for being with us
again here on the dean show and just so
the people don't have to take an Arabic
class can we kind of let them know what
we just said sure well asalam alikum is
peace be upon you
you is basically the blessings of Allah
um isn't that beautiful I wish peace
upon him he wish it back upon me so now
you don't have to take that AIT class
not quite yet now I would I would point
out something and that that is that we
as Muslims say peace be upon youh but
this is also the greeting that Jesus
Christ teaches his disciples in the
Bible and one thing that always confused
me or bothered me a little bit was how
so many Christians made fun of this yeah
you know we would sayam Alum waum Salam
say what is that what is that well
that's peace be upon you and wishing
peace back and so on and I said why do
you have to do that each time just you
know and I point out to them I'd say
look this isn't just the teachings of
you know the the prophet Muhammad and
and the Quran this is also a Biblical
teaching and the surprising thing is
that even though Jesus Christ taught
this to his disciples you don't see them
practicing it yeah that's a good point
to mention Dr uh Brown thank you for
being with us it's an honor to have you
on the show we want to talk about the
purpose of life and the questions that
some people aren't raising they should
be raising my experience
is dealing with you know uh just Layman
the individuals in the society today
it's kind of a taboo to talk about God
it's kind of a taboo to talk talk about
religion this is my experience I see
people want to talk about the football
game the basketball game they want to
talk about the nightclub they're going
to go to they want to talk about you
know this is uh just the normal things
that go through people's mind but when
you bring up God when you bring up
religion when you bring up some of these
things it's kind of like you know what I
I don't have time for this why do you
think this is Dr
Brown why it is I don't know but uh but
I think it is a fact I I think it's a
fact not just that discourse has pretty
much become more centered around
entertainment and less centered around
God but I think that in general people
who have sound moral and spiritual
values uh have noticed that in the west
there just seems to be a decline in
moral and spiritual values and along
with that is a decline in investigation
a decline in open-minded discussion of a
variety of topics religion of course
being number
one uh tell us now why you've written an
article and it's addressing uh some of
these questions that you know most
people ask some people don't but if they
don't they should let's discuss some of
these questions that uh you WR written
about in your article sure okay um this
is a uh it's actually a three-part
uh series uh it's it's an article called
U the big questions the big questions
are the questions that everybody asks
themselves at some point in their life I
I don't know anybody except that at some
point in their life they ask themselves
who made me and why am I here uh so I I
wrote this in uh this article called the
big questions you can find it on my
website which we'll be mentioning later
um but uh this is something that I think
this is a topic of discussion that
basically breaches that that uh that
Chasm uh we were just talking about how
religion and God are things that are
considered almost taboo subjects
nowadays but the purpose of life is not
and it's very easy to talk with people
about you know what do you believe about
who made you what do you believe about
uh why you are here and uh those are
subjects that are still very much alive
uh Dr Brown in your experience uh
dealing with I'm sure you deal with a
lot of people when youve have you asked
asked this question to people what is
the purpose of life and what are some of
the common responses you get to
this well I think the first question I
usually start with is who made you uh
and it's a perfect challenge to make a
person think and for the most part you
you'll get only a few answers uh some
people will just say I don't know yeah I
don't know and it's um it's too big a
question for me to think about are they
shocked that they you even asked them
this question um not really MH actually
I think I I imagined that they would be
more shocked than than uh than they
actually are I mean I thought it was
kind of a confront confrontational
question to say who made you MH you know
you're get you're in a discussion with
somebody and they're kind of uh just
going this direction and going that
direction you're trying to bring them
back to the central point this is
talking about religion of course
and and you just ask look who made you
you you'll find that a remarkable number
of people who consider themselves
religious will have really peculiar
answers to that um the the vast majority
of course will say well well God made me
okay but uh there you will get all kinds
of funny funny uh funny answers um I
think I think this question the who made
you question is more a question
uh designed for the atheists and for
those people who are on a religious
search and haven't don't really have
very strong
convictions most Jews Christians etc etc
when you ask them this question they'll
say well God made me and we move on okay
we we then move on to discussing the
purpose of life mhm um if I ask
somebody who made you and they say I
don't know maybe they're atheist or
whatever I'll just point out to them
I'll say look look around the room
everything that we see that we as human
beings have made with our hands you know
it's it's a created object everything
that we see has been made I mean you see
a painting you know that there's a
painter you see a sculpture you know
that there's a sculptor you see a piece
of furniture you know that there's a
Furniture
Factory everything that everything in
our experience is is
made and yet when you look at
creation and the Perfection of
creation people just there there are
some people who just say well the Big
Big Bang Theory and uh Evolution how do
you deal these are their answers how do
you deal with this when someone brings
this up Marxism or Evolution or good
question how do I deal with this well
quite simply I say okay the big bang and
evolution
M let's take a look at those two the Big
Bang The Big Bang Theory is that all the
matter in the universe CEST into a
hyperdense core which then in an
explosion of energy and matter burst
apart and and uh spread into what has
become the known universe M so that's
the origin of the universe well couple
of
questions where did all the matter and
the energy that coalesced into this
hyperdense core where did all that
matter matter come from to begin with
mhm okay this might explain the design
of why the universe is in the shape it's
in why it is expanding to this day why
the planets are there the stars are
there etc etc this might explain that
but it doesn't explain where all of this
matter where all of this energy came
from to begin with mhm oh sure I mean
aside aside from the point that the Big
Bang Theory explains the way things are
but it doesn't explain where all the
mannery and energy came from in the
first place it doesn't uh it doesn't
dismiss the possibility of a Creator all
right let's say the Big Bang happened
well a firecracker explodes but who sets
it off uh I mean the point is that yes
the Big Bang may be responsible for the
university the universe as we know it
but who organized that series of events
now of course some people will remain
upon their atheism and say well I don't
know or nothing or chance events but
people uh you know people of religious
persuasion or people who are inclined to
belief will will see the sense of this
and understand oh yeah sure uh it makes
sense that that event was organized when
you look at the way that this universe
is organized the the Perfection of the
balance of this
universe um to say that that happened as
a random event to me it means you just
haven't studied the universe enough you
don't understand the complexities of the
universe this this planet if it was the
smallest distance closer to the Sun
would be uninhabitable because of the
heat everything on this planet would die
if it was the smallest distance away
from the Sun it would be an ice
ball the the spin on this planet
creates a gravity which is the perfect
balance to keep us on the surface a
little bit a little bit uh a little bit
more gravity or a little bit less and
again Life as we know it would not
exist uh the balance of the universe in
general the gravitational pull of all of
the heavenly bodies Etc you just you
have to study the universe to understand
its complexities but uh but those who do
I think they come away realizing that
the human organism Life as we know it is
complex but the universe itself is a
wonder and so again who organized that
series of events Subhan Allah this is
deep I'm enjoying listening to Dr Brown
I'm sure you are also they say we come
from monkeys Dr Brown talk about this
how do you address this well this is
back to the concept of evolution again
when we're talking about who made us the
answer is usually uh in two parts people
usually say well the big bang and
evolution um there are a number of
answers to that of course one of the
answers is that Darwin himself began to
question Evolution towards the end of
his life and for very good reason um let
me give you an example I'm an
opthalmologist I work on the eye my
specialty Opthalmology is divided into
multiple Specialties we have people who
are specialized in the cornea and the
anterior segment glaucoma uvi
retina um refractive surgery uh neuro
Opthalmology uh cancer of the eye
pediatric Opthalmology etc etc etc this
is a very small organ the eye but it's
highly complex so much so that our
specialty is divided into a large number
of subsp Specialties well interestingly
enough Eddie Darwin when he started
studying the eye he uh he basically
began to question the theory of
Evolution and the reason why was because
the eye is such a complex structure that
it cannot it cannot work without all of
its elements working together and that
means that if there was any problem with
the cornea the lens the uvia the iris
the retina the Scara the optic nerve the
connections with the brain etc
etc all all of these elements would have
had to have evolved at exactly the same
time in
perfect coordination to give rise to
this structure and he could not conceive
that as having happened a lot of and and
most scientists can't but the real
answer I give to the concept of
evolution is is similar to the one I
just said about the big bang and that
that is as Muslims we have no problem
with the concept of the Big Bang we just
understand that it was under the uh
design of our creator in the same way we
have no problem with the concept of
evolution meaning the concept of natural
selection animals and human beings adapt
to their to their
circumstances the difference between the
Islamic View and what you're taught in
the classroom is is simply that we do
not believe that human beings evolved
from monkeys the animal kingdom with its
different species may have gone through
Evolution as a matter of fact the fossil
records suggest that it does we have no
problem with that dinosaurs walk the
earth uh horses at one time were this
High uh dogs at one time were this High
there was a time when when U when birds
were 7et high okay we have no problem
with with all of that the different
species changed according to their
circumstance and changed over time but
again what we say is that was that was
all within the design of our
creator and this is a a concept which
has recently been popularized in science
under the concept of intelligent design
uh because many scientists are are
speaking out against uh the concept of
evolution saying that these systems are
simply too complex to have evolved It
could only have been a result
of intelligent design and who is that
Designer um sure if you look at the gene
code you might find the gene code of
monkeys very similar to the gene code of
human beings MH you might find our DNA
is
97% uh
compatible and all of these things might
you know sway a person to to believing
in in evolution but that's a test of
your faith and uh it it by no means
means that you uh you cannot have had
these two entities as separate
creation you're here on the dean show
you're watching us here on the dean show
with Dr Brown and Dr Brown the person
who's uh tuned in and they really like
what you have to say they say you know
what you got me okay this whole you know
idea that uh I just came into existence
by myself there's no Creator behind this
okay he's getting away from this this
whole idea of you know being the son of
a monkey he's not digging this either
now he wants to hear what you have to
say about what the million dooll
question how you answer it what is the
purpose purpose of life why are we
here well let me ask the people out
there you you tell me why you're here
are you here just to uh you know just to
have a good time is life meant to be one
big party and then we die and it's a
black emptiness and and that's it uh are
we here to make a little music uh throw
a few parties uh eat some good dinners
is that what life is all
about uh I think most people most people
at some point in their life they will
come to some sort of A Spiritual
Awakening where they will ask themselves
is this all there is is this what it's
all
about uh you you see that a lot you see
that a lot with uh people who have
everything you know the Hollywood stars
the the multi- multi multi-millionaires
and so on and so forth uh they often get
to some point in their life where they
they basically have it all in a material
sense and they start asking themselves
man is this what it's all about there's
nothing more
and they get down to asking themselves
just this question why am I here what's
my purpose I think all of you out there
know that we have a higher purpose than
simply making life a party and then we
die and go away uh but to explain it in
simple
terms um again look around the room look
at everything that you see in front of
you uh look beyond the TV set that
you're looking at and just scan the room
and you will see that everything that we
as human beings have made has a purpose
every single thing that we made has a
purpose okay and the purpose of
everything we made was to serve Us by
serve us I mean perform a function for
us okay even if it's something as simple
as a glass it performs a function for us
it serves us in a capacity so does the
table that hold holds us so do the tiles
that that cover the floor that that
table is resting upon etc etc etc even
if even if we created something just to
entertain us that's still still serving
Us in some capacity
MH so if everything we make is made for
the purpose of serving us doesn't it
make sense that our creator made us to
serve him and that's my answer I mean my
answer is
that uh is that we were created for the
purpose of serving and worshiping our
creator now I think that's kind of a
common sense
answer but it wasn't until I read the
Holy Quran that I found a book of
scripture that simply said that it
simply said that God did not
create uh man Mankind and Spirits except
to serve and worship him
okay you're not with here with Dr Phil
we're here with Dr Brown on The Dean
show Dr uh Brown tell us now I say come
on to worship God what are you talking
about uh tell them kind of elaborate
more on this what do you actually mean
by we've been created to serve God and
worship God give us some more details
about
this
well let's go back to the real world as
we know it mhm okay I was talking about
some simple objects this is a glass
okay we created this to serve us right
now it's holding iced tea that's its job
yeah right now we all look at a glass as
a pretty simple thing and we don't think
about the rules that apply to this glass
but even simple objects have got rules
you hold it right side up you don't hold
it right upside down you don't overfill
it if you put cold water and then you
add hot water the glass might shatter
because that's what happens if you put
cold and hot together um just some
simple points but everything we make has
got rules or you might say laws and if
you violate these laws it doesn't
perform the function for which it was
created okay and it doesn't matter what
you're talking about you can talk about
something as simple as a spoon you eat
with one end right not the other that's
that's a rule upon that
utensil uh but if you look at something
more complex a computer a car uh going
by an MP3 PL what whatever you're
talking about what does it come with it
comes with an owner manual right it
comes with an instruction booklet that
tells you what it tells you how to use
it and it tells you the rules upon that
object it was created for what function
and how do you use it properly and if
it's not used properly what will happen
right well is it any different for us
I mean we are created for a
function we are Guided by we're Guided
by rules so does it not make sense that
we would be provided with an owner's
manual absolutely an instruction booklet
now you got them something to tell us
what those rules are how how how the one
who created us in uh intended us for
intended us to use our lives the rules
he tended us to live by that's really
all it comes down to and here's another
thought here's another thought I mean if
you're looking at a rule book If you're
looking at an instruction manual who
writes that who writes the instruction
manual you're looking at a TV right now
I don't care what brand it is who wrote
the instruction manual for that brand if
you're watching a Sony TV was that
instruction manual written by
Panasonic if you're watching toiba was
that instruction manual written by G I
don't think so the one who writes the
instruction manual is the one who
created the
object that is the purpose of I mean
that is where scripture fits into our
lives the one who created us is the one
who wrote the books of guidance for us
the books of
scripture uh Dr Brown I think the
skeptic we got his uh attention now I
think everything's making sense it's
something logical it's not something
far-fetched it makes sense tell us some
of the Practical acts of worship that a
Muslim does on a regular basis so they
can see that this is something even that
goes even further with their nature talk
about some of the main tenants of
worship okay uh basically in in Islam
the Muslim prays five times a day they
fast the month of Ramadan they pay a
poor du which is called zakat it's it's
an amount of money that we that we pay
on a yearly basis according to uh
according to what we have in excess of
our needs and I I stress this because
this is important it's not a tithe you
know a tithe in the Christian world is
paying a certain amount of your
income a lot of people find that
burdensome and for reasons I think that
are easily understood there are some
people who need 100% of their income to
get by if you ask them to pay 10% leave
them with 90% of their income they can't
do it um in Islam the the poor do the
money that is due to the poor is
assessed on what you have above and
beyond your needs okay so like I said we
pray five times a day we we fast the
month of Ramadan we pay the zakat uh if
we are able to and we have the money uh
one time in our life we are obligated to
make the pilgrimage to
Mecca and the number one and probably
well the the most important the uh the
one obligation from which all others
begins is that we make
shahada we make the testimony of faith
we testify that we believe in God as one
God and in Muhammad as the final prophet
when you when you testify that Muhammad
peace be upon him as the last and final
uh Prophet messenger uh do you now
accept all the other Messengers that
preceded
him well in a in a nutshell when you
testify that Muhammad was the final
Prophet the the final prophet in the
chain of prophets uh it obligates you to
a number of things it obligates you also
to uh to adhere to uh his
teachings and to adhere to the teachings
of the Book of Revelation that was
revealed through him and uh and so the
these things teach us about the other
prophets they teach us about Adam and uh
on on up to the prophets that are well
known to all those in in uh Judaism and
Christianity Abraham Ishmael Isaiah Noah
Moses Jesus to name a few and uh and the
the Holy Quran validates these people as
prophets so we are obligated to believe
in them what are some of the benefits
now on living a life according to how
your creator wants you to live as
opposed to living life according to how
you want to live according to your
desires well for me I have to say that
the main
benefit for me is that for the first
time I felt I understood my place
in life my place in this
Cosmos it was the first time that I felt
peace actually entered my
life now
Islam I'm sure everybody has heard by
now you know Islam has the meaning of
Peace uh the root of Islam you find in
the in what we know as the consonants
slm uh and one of the root one of the
words from which that takes root is
Salam or peace peace uh another word
that it takes root from is tasim which
is
submission so our understanding as
Muslims is that this word one of the
meanings uh most commonly spoken of
meaning is the peace that the Muslim
finds when they submit to their creator
and what I can say is just that I feel
that before Islam everything I did was
just marking time mhm it was just
marking time I'm not saying I didn't
have a good time yeah I had fun I'm not
saying good things didn't happen but I'm
saying in in the end everything I did
before I became Muslim I feel like it
was just marking time on this Earth MH
it wasn't dedicated for a
purpose after I became
Muslim I feel that everything I did it
had a purpose I understood its purpose
and the uh the peace and satisfaction
that I received from that made my life
Rich regardless of what I had in my home
or in the bank you couldn't pay for that
that's something money buy you can't buy
it you can't buy that Subhan Allah and
and how you know I mean uh how many how
many disaffected uh rich people do we
know you pick pick up any pick up any uh
you know any national Inquirer Globe
star whatever whatever magazine it it is
always filled with
celebrities uh you know the wealthy and
so on and so forth and the disasters
that their lives have turned
into and yet how many people how many
Muslims do we know who are simply happy
with their life the way it is whether
they're rich or poor because they know
they you know they know that they found
their place in life they know the
purpose of life tell us for more they're
telling us we're out of time tell us uh
for someone who wants to read more on
some of your books and uh some of these
things we discuss where they can visit
you well visit me at my two websites uh
the first is the eth scroll.com.tr
domcom l v l
t.com and on that on that website you'll
find my articles my conversion story my
other books among them are these two
missg godded and goded you can you can
look up them up for yourselves and you
can contact me through the contact us
button thank you for being with us we
hope to inshallah God willing have you
back again on the dean show I hope to be
here and I like to thank you all for
tuning in to another episode of the dean
show and you got to hear it here what
the purpose of life is is to worship
your creator alone without partners to
worship and submit and surrender to him
not his creation and if you jooy enjoy
this episode of the dean show continue
to come back every week here if you miss
us on the TV and the local uh cable
station in Chicago you can visit us at
theen show.com T HDE enow.com until next
time assalam alikum peace be unto you
man
e e